KABUL - Afghanistan expressed desires to issue Bitcoin bonds at the annual Spring Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), held in Washington, D.C. on April 14-18.
According to Asia Times, Governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan Khail Sediq said Afghanistan was keen in issuing a sovereign crypto bond that uses blockchain technology as an instrument to raise some US$5.8 billion in needed private-sector investment for the country’s critical mining, energy and agriculture sectors.
Sediq said a crypto issuance could open new ways to access international markets through the hyperledger’s blockchain technology financial services platform.
He added that Bitcoin could be coupled with Afghanistan’s lithium, a high-demanded mineral in the market but in short-supply. Afghanistan is set to become one of the world’s largest miners of lithium.
Tunisia and Uzbekistan are also seeking IMF approval to issue Bitcoin bonds.
These three countries’ requests may not gain much support from the IMF as the entity had previously expressed caution regarding digital assets.
However, earlier in March, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde noted for a move into the sector with supervised testing as an initial potential starting point. (Wadsam)